Teams of the year announced

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced its Test and ODI Teams of the Year. Former Test stalwarts Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten and Kumar Sangakkara selected the sides based on players’ performances in the period from 14 September 2015 to 20 September 2016.

England’s Alastair Cook has been named as captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year, which includes four Englishmen, three Australians, and a player each from New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

This is the third time Cook has been appointed captain of the Test side, while it is the eighth time in nine years that Dale Steyn has been selected despite only playing four Tests during the voting period.

Joe Root, David Warner and Kane Williamson have been chosen for the third successive year.

It has been a case of third time lucky for Virat Kohli who has been named as captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year, which includes three Australians, Indians, South Africans each, and one each from England and West Indies. De Villiers has been selected for the sixth time since 2010, while Starc has been picked up for the third time in four years.

Starc and his team-mate Warner are the only two players to have been selected in both the Test and ODI sides in 2016.

The ICC earlier named its Women’s team of the year headlined by Women’s ODI and T20I cricketer of the year White Ferns Suzie Bates.

Apart from Bates, the side also includes two other New Zealanders – wicket-keeper Rachel Priest and off-spinner Leigh Kasperek.

The side features two Australians, Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry, England’s Heather Knight and Anya Shrubshole, two West Indians in Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin as well as India’s Smriti Mandhana and Sune Luus of South Africa. Kim Garth of Ireland has been named as 12th player.

The side was selected by a panel consisting of Clare Connor (Chair), Mel Jones and Shubhangi Kulkarni, which took into account players’ performances during the period from 14 September 2015 to 20 September 2016.